A Black Rock Shooter and the Shinobi
by xchrispx510
Summary: Finding himself in another world, a 15 year old Itachi meets a number of girls who always fought without a reason, without a purpose. Can Itachi give them a reason to fight, all the while fulfilling a destiny he didn't know he had? Itachi/Black Rock Shooter and possible Itachi/Harem.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I just got finished watching the Black Rock Shooter anime, fight scenes only, and I had to write this story. This story will take place in the anime universe, but without the other self part. So the girls are just fighting. They don't have a reason or question it. They just fight. They also don't have emotions at the beginning, but that'll change when they meet Itachi. I know Itachi isn't the most emotional person, but I believe we never got to see the true Itachi. He had all these problems and burdens so he could never truly be himself. Don't worry I'm not going to make him some crying baby, but he'll be more open and less cold. **

**Also Itachi is around 15 in this story. And some might ask how he got into their world, let's just say he was on an Akatsuki mission and something went wrong. Yes, I'm too lazy to come up with a real reason. I hope I can inspire people to write about this pairing. I know it's a random pairing, but still a good one.**

* * *

Fighting.

All she knew was fighting. She never questioned it. Why she fought. Who she fought. None of that never mattered. Why it didn't matter? She didn't know and she didn't care. And she didn't feel. Emotions at least. She felt pain, she just almost never showed it. She was completely emotionless.

But that would all change.

* * *

Black Rock Shooter walked silently through the abnormal forest, keeping her eyes and head on a swivel. What made the forest abnormal was a few things. The first was the size of the trees. To put it simple they were huge, in height and thickness. But the most outstanding feature was the fact that strange random objects stuck from the trees at random places.

Black Rock Shooter paid the strange scenery no mind. Lifting her hood over her head, Black Rock Shooter climbed over a fallen tree only to stop midway. Not thirty meters away from her was a cloaked figure walking through the forest.

Her eyes turned into a glare at the figure as she jumped onto one of the branches and began to slowly stalk her prey. She hopped branch from branch silently closing the distant to the seemingly unaware figure. Once she was in position, Black Rock Shooter silently dropped down from her perch, her sword ready to strike.

At the last possible second the cloaked figure spun around and blocked the strike with a ninjato. Black Rock Shooter was pushed back from the block and landed a few meters from the cloaked figure. She stared at the cloaked figure with narrowed eyes taking in its appearance.

The cloaked figure's build wasn't all to different from hers. They were about the same height, she was maybe half an inch shorter, and size of the figure shown a small frame. But despite the figures size, Black Rock Shooter could feel the figure's strength from their brief clash of blades. All her thoughts and planning came to an abrupt stop when she saw his eyes.

They were blood-red with three tomoes encircling the pupil. The face was shadowed behind the hood of the cloak, but the eyes seemed to glow. They seemed to looking into her very being. As she continued to look into those eyes she began to feel something sprout within her.

It wasn't fear. No, it was curiosity. It was different. It was foreign.

It was unpleasant.

Black Rock Shooter launched herself forward with every intention of ridding herself the source of her discomfort. The cloaked figure responded just the same. The cloaked figure caught Black Rock Shooter by surprise when it appeared right in front of her.

_'Fast.'_ Black Rock Shooter thought as she ducked, dodging a stab from the cloaked figure's ninjato that was aimed at her face. After she ducked Black Rock Shooter countered by swinging her sword horizontally in an attempt to lop off the cloaked figure's leg at the knee. Unfortunately for her, the cloaked figure's hand shot out and caught her by the wrist just inches from his leg. The cloaked figure then brought down its ninjato only for Black Rock Shooter to use her free hand to catch the striking hand's wrist.

Both Black Rock Shooter and the cloaked figure stared at each other with eyes that portrayed no emotion, all the while still gripping each others wrist keeping the other from cutting into them. They stayed like that for what seemed like years. Neither one of them moving except from the trembling if their arms as they fought for dominance. Then suddenly in a flash, both snapped out their legs and round house kicked the other in the face.

Black Rock Shooter and the cloaked figure were sent flying in opposite directions from the power and speed of the kicks. The two quickly flipped in the air righting themselves, and pushed off the trees the second their feet touched them. Their blades clashed against each other as they flew by one another. They repeated the process multiple times, pushing off a tree, striking each other as they flew by, only to hit metal instead of flesh.

_'This is getting us nowhere.'_ they both simultaneously. Deciding to change tactics, the cloaked figure changed his direction when he pushed off the tree and jumped upwards.

All the while, Black Rock Shooter stood tense and ready for her opponents attack, her eyes locked dead on with her target. She didn't have to wait long for a volley of shuriken to come raining down on her. To counter, Black Rock Shooter summons her black rock cannon and started firing at the shuriken. After she shot all the shuriken down Black Rock Shooter aimed her cannon and fired right at the cloaked figure's face. Still in the air, the cloaked figure flipped backwards avoiding getting shot in the face, and flicked out a kunai straight at Black Rock Shooter.

Easily swatting it away with her cannon, Black Rock Shooter dashed forward while charging her cannon. She planned to get to the cloaked figure before he hit the ground. Black Rock Shooter pushed her cannon forward trying to shoot and punch the cloaked figure at the same time, but the cloaked figure was able to get a foot on the ground and flip backwards. As her cannon discharged and tore through the trunk of the tree Black Rock Shooter looked up and saw the cloaked figure land on the tree, which was now slowly falling backwards. She was instantly following, she jumped on the slowly falling tree and dashed after the cloaked figure.

She fired her cannon as she ran along the falling tree, forcing the cloaked figure to leap back multiple time to create space. Black Rock Shooter glared as the cloaked figure continued to block and divert her attacks. Eventually, the cloaked figure reached the end of the tree and leaped backwards into the air. Black Rock Shooter leaped after the cloaked figure, charging her Black Rock Cannon, only to become curious (which irked her) once again when the cloaked figure started forming hand signs.

Then to her surprise (another emotion that was foreign to her) a large stream of fire came flowing out the cloaked figure's mouth. Directing her cannon to the side, Black Rock Shooter fired sending her flying to the side and out of danger.

_'Incredible. To be able to dodge in mid air like that...this girl dangerous.'_ the cloaked started forming a different set of hand sings to counter Black Rock Shooter, who landed on a tree branch and began firing. A volley of small fireballs came shooting out of the cloaked figure's mouth, hitting the rock bullets that were fired at him.

The both stared silently at each other from their positions; one on a tree branch and the other on the forest floor. As they stared into each others eyes, Black Rock Shooter once again felt the unknown feeling of curiosity bubble up inside her, and once again she didn't like it. To show her dislike, she transformed her Black Rock Cannon into its Gatling gun form and began firing.

The cloaked figure broke into a dead sprint, making sure to run behind as many trees as possible for cover. Black Rock Shooter continued her assault leaving a wake of destroyed trees and earth behind the running cloaked figure; only to draw out her sword, spin around and block her opponents ninjato.

Her eyes were wide with surprise. She was just shooting at the cloaked figure less then a second ago. So how did he get behind her so quickly? She had to jump back to avoid another strike, but this one was from the cloaked figure she was firing at earlier.

_'An ally?'_ Black Rock Shooter thought as she landed on a far away branch and changed her cannon back into its first form. _'No. I doubt too many people have eyes like those.'_ the red-eyed cloaked figures jumped off the branch they were standing on and swung their ninjato's at Black Rock Shooter. Letting herself fall off the branch, Black Rock Shooter shot at the cloaked figure on the left, which was dodged, and used her sword in her other hand to block the other cloaked figure's kunia attack.

_'If it's not an ally then what?'_ Black Rock Shooter's eyes darted left and right as the cloaked figures landed on both sides of her._ 'It's not an illusion.'_ the cloaked figures advanced on her, both sweeping their ninjato, one aiming for her head the other for her legs. Jamming her sword into the ground to block the ninjato that was aimed for her legs, Black Rock Shooter brought up her cannon to stop the other attack, before she kicked the cloaked figure in the chest causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke._ 'What?'_

Black Rock Shooter didn't have time to dwell on what she saw as the remaining cloaked figure made a stab from behind at her midsection. To avoid the attack, she back flipped and intended to land behind her attacker, but she was kicked in the gut and sent flying. As she scraped her feet against the ground to slow herself down, Black Rock Shooter aimed her rock canon and fired.

_'This girl.'_ the cloaked figure jumped in the air to avoid getting shot. _'There's no emotion in her fighting.'_ pushing of the side of a tree, the cloaked figure just barely avoided being hit by a hail of rock bullets._ 'It's like she's fighting for the sake of fighting. It's mechanical.'_ flipping through the air, time seemed to slow down for the cloaked figure, who was putting all his focus into his eyes. Black Rock Shooter's trail of gunfire closed in on him, but the cloaked figure blocked that and everything else out. He was only focused on getting the perfect angle and timing right.

With a quick flick of the wrist the cloaked figure sent a single exploding tag, wrapped kunai through the air. Perfectly timing it, the kunai entered in Black Rock Shooter's rock cannon barrel, then exploded. Letting out a grunt of pain, Black Rock Shooter changed her rock cannon back into her arm and dashed towards the cloaked figure who landed a few meters ahead of her. Picking up her sword along the way, Black Rock Shooter charged with it pointing straight forward.

_'I wonder...'_ the cloaked figure mentally trailed off as he watched Black Rock Shooter close in on him. As Black Rock Shooter drew closer the cloaked figure dropped his ninjato to the ground and stood perfectly still. The irritation known as curiosity shot through Black Rock Shooter once again as she saw her opponent give her a chance to kill him. And just as she was about to end it, she stopped, her blade less then an inch from piercing the cloaked figure between the eyes.

Why? Why did he stop and allow her an opening? And better yet, why did she not take it? She never hesitated before in a fight. So why now?

"Why?" Black Rock Shooter growled.

"Why, what?" the cloaked figure didn't even blink when Black Rock Shooter pushed her sword against his forehead, causing a small stream of blood to trickle down his face.

"Why did you stop fighting?"

"Why did you start fighting?" why did she start fighting? What kind of question was that? They fought, that's what they did. All Black Rock Shooter knew was fighting. Did he_ not_ want to fight?

"...You...don't want to fight?" the thought was absurd to her.

"No, I don't. I wish to avoid violence as much as possible."

"But you're strong. How can you be so strong and avoid fighting?" she didn't understand. Don't you become strong by fighting? So if he avoids fighting how can he be strong?

"I'm became strong in order to protect what's important to me." slowly Black Rock Shooter pulled her sword away from the cloaked figure with a look of complete confusion on her face. "Which is why I don't wish to continue this fight. It's pointless. I would understand if you had a grudge against me, or you had a goal to achieve and I stood in the way. But that doesn't seem to be the case here."

"I have no reason to fight you." the cloaked figure firmly stated.

_'Reason to...fight?'_ Black Rock Shooter was at a loss. Was is really necessary to have a reason to fight? She never had one. No one in her world did. They just fought. It was killed or be killed. But here stood this cloaked figure who refused to fight her. Here stood a cloak figure who was causing her to feel...things. They were emotions. Confusion and curiosity.

"You're...unique." Black Rock Shooter stated as she took off her hood. "I've never met anyone who didn't want to fight in this world."

"I guess that would make me strange in your eyes wouldn't it?" the cloaked figure chuckle lightly. "I'm Itachi. Itachi Uchiha." Itachi introduced himself as he also removed his hood.

"Black Rock Shooter." said person replied while taking in her former opponents features. He was about her age (15) had long black hair, light skin, and tear troughs under his eyes. "Your eyes. They're no longer red." Black Rock Shooter noticed as she eyed Itachi.

"Yes. What you saw earlier was my Sharingan. It's a sort of weapon unique to my clan, I can turn on or off at will " Itachi explained before he asked a question of his own. "Your arm. It changed into a weapon I've never seen before. What do you call it?"

"Black Rock Cannon. I've had it as far as I can remem-." Black Rock Shooter was interrupted when a soft ball size, metal ball landed in between them. They were just able to jump out of the way before the ball exploded. Itachi and Black Rock Shooter both landed on a tree branch and stared down as the dust settled.

"Was that aimed for you or for me?" Itachi questioned.

"That was aimed for whoever enters this forest." Black Rock Shooter answered, but she wasn't looking at Itachi. She was looking up and all around them. With an eyebrow raised Itachi followed her lead.

"Are those...monkeys?" their numbers were in the hundreds. They resembled monkeys but they weren't animals. They were machines and they were everywhere.

"Drones." Black Rock Shooter answered. "Each territory has drones and they kill on sight." Black Rock Shooter changed her hand into her rock cannon as Itachi readied his shuriken. All the while the monkey like drones were preparing their own attacks, which were the same metal balls that was thrown earlier.

"You can trust me." Itachi said causing Black Rock Shooter to glance at him. "I know the concept of trust is foreign to you, if you're always fighting on your own, but you can trust me to have your back." she stared into his now blood red eyes and contemplated if she could. Normally she wouldn't even entertain the thought of trusting anybody else, but as she looked into his eyes, she believed him.

"You get the ones on the left and I'll get the ones right." was Black Rock Shooter's reply.

* * *

**A/N; Ok, time to explain a few things. **

**As you can see I didn't waste much time for them to meet. Why? Simple. I couldn't wait. Some fanfics start out slow, but I wasn't in the mood for that. I wanted them to meet right away so I can have them interact.**

**For the drones, I made those up on spot. I wanted fighting but I didn't want them fighting the other girls so early. Also I'm really leaning towards making this a harem (of course Black Rock Shooter will be the main girl) so I'm going to make oc's. Why? Because after a while Itachi will eventually make the other girls into his allies, so I'm going to need someone for them to fight. **

**Also the girls are eventually get emotions, meaning they'll get personalities. And since in the anime and this story (at first) they seemed pretty emotionless, the girls will probably become ooc, but I'll try to make the personalities fit.**

**I'm not sure when but I'm thinking of having them all getting sent to the real world. Have them try to fit in and be normal, give the story a casual feel. Of course, that doesn't mean there won't be action when they're sent there, but this is in the future. **

**And if anyone wants to give me some ideas of what the oc's should be, I'll be happy to listen.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here it is chapter two. I didn't anticipate it to be this long but I didn't want to cut it short so I kept going. Also I figured out where I'm going with this fic, so things kept on popping up that I had to write down. I know I said I planned to have Itachi and Black Rock Shooter sent into the real world in my last chapter and I still do but the thing is I always saw that happening in the second half of this story. **

**So the question was what do I do with the first half? **

**But now I know where I'm going with the first half. I also have a reason why the girls are fighting in the first place and they're not going to like it when they found out. And no they're not fighting for the same reason as in the anime. It's going to be a more petty reason and, like I said, the girls aren't going to like it. **

**And yes I said girls. Now that doesn't mean that Itachi will have a harem, I'm actually leaning away from that now. But I still plan on having Itachi, Black Rock Shooter, Dead Master, Black Gold Saw, and Strength to form a little group.**

**Another thing I plan on doing with the girls is to kinda make them naive with a lot of simple things, since in my story all they did was fighting, so they didn't really learn about much. Now I'm not going to make them idiots, just unaware of a lot of things. Then I could have Itachi teach them about things they don't know about.**

**Also it's not a huge thing but I just wanted to point out that I made Itachi smaller then he was at 15 (which is the age he is in this fic) then he was in the canon. The reason to that is his size in the canon kinda watered down (in my opinion) his strength especially before the massacre. Think about it. He was 13 when he wiped out his clan, but he looked like he was like 18, and it just seemed that it made his power less impressive. I think it would be more shocking if he did all that at a normal 13 year old size body. Especially when he joined the Akatsuki. He probably was stronger then a good amount of them and it'd just seem cooler if he was like half their size. It's just better when the less physically intimidating person is the strongest. I know I rambled, but I just wanted people to see my point. So Itachi is around Black Rock Shooter's size and height.**

**One last thing. No one has asked about it, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to write some lemons in this story, but not anytime soon. The reason for that is I wouldn't feel comfortable with writing lemons about Black Rock Shooter when she doesn't even look like she's gone through puberty yet. So I'll wait until she gets older (around 17, 18) then write the lemon. And yes that does mean she'll grow a more mature body, but that's in the future.**

**Also when you picture the drones don't picture actual monkeys. They have the build of one, long arms and what not, but picture them more machine like and vicious. **

**Now on to the story.**

* * *

It was...different.

Fighting alongside someone that is.

The fact that she hadn't been hit yet was a big difference. The reason she got hit so often in fights wasn't that she was an incompetent fighter, far from it. It was because she let herself get hit. Whether it was to gauge her opponent's strength, to lead them into a false sense of security, or she just knew that the attack wouldn't kill her; Black Rock Shooter never paid it no mind. But this fight with the drones was different. She counted at least three times she should've been hit by one of the drones only to have Itachi step in and stop them.

Eventually, she got into the habit too.

"Down." Itachi calmly stated causing Black Rock Shooter to crouch down, giving Itachi clear view of the drones coming at her from behind. "Wind Style: Air Bullet Jutsu!" Black Rock Shooter stayed completely still as Itachi's air bullets passed by her and tore through the drones.

A part of her was screaming at her, telling her she was making a big mistake in trusting Itachi. But the new part of her, the part that popped up abruptly, the part that brought the emotion of curiosity, that part didn't feel like she was. She could still remember the look on Itachi's face when he said he would have her back. She didn't see any deceit in his eyes and he gave off a gentle and trusting aura. So she decided to squash that part that was telling her she was making a mistake and trust Itachi.

For now.

"Jump." Black Rock Shooter said as a horde of drones came crashing down where Itachi was a second before. Aiming her Rock Cannon at the group, Black Rock Shooter unleashed a barrage of shots, completely destroying the drones.

Meanwhile, as Itachi jumped above Black Rock Shooter, he noticed dozens of drones leaping from various places, all of them heading straight for Black Rock Shooter. Itachi took one quick sweep of his surroundings, allowing him to memorize the drones positions, and create a picture in his mind. Closing his eyes as he flipped through the air, Itachi began to quickly calculate the order he would need to take out the drones before they could get to Black Rock Shooter, who was cutting down a herd of her own.

Finished with his calculations, multiple kunai found themselves between his fingers. Doing another quick calculation to figure out how much time has passed since he closed his eyes, half a second, and where the drones would be at the current moment. With that done, Itachi started releasing his kunai with deadly speed and precision, taking out the attacking drones.

Itachi landed behind Black Rock Shooter and the two stood back to back as they readied themselves for another assault. They scanned their surroundings and saw the drones were no longer attacking without thinking. They could see that a number of drones were on both sides of the thick branch they stood on. Instead of bombs these drones had changed their hands into long sharp claws that could easily tear through flesh. To make things worse, there were more drones perched above and around them.

Those drones had the bombs.

"So they can work together." Itachi mused. _'Interesting. They plan to attack us simultaneously, but the ones that attack us from close range will be caught in the bombs explosions. Which means that as long as they kill us, their own destruction is of little consequence to them.'_ Itachi thought as he readied his ninjato.

"Here they come." Black Rock Shooter mumbled. True to her word the drones dashed towards them, claws ready to tear them apart.

Itachi quickly and cleanly cut through the first drone that jumped straight at him, and ducked as another came from the side.

Black Rock Shooter stuck her foot out catching a jumping drone, then slammed her foot down crushing the drone beneath it.

Reaching out with his free hand, Itachi grabbed the drone he ducked under by the tail and slammed it into another attacking drone.

Pointing her rock cannon forward Black Rock Shooter began shooting, taking out more approaching drones.

Itachi stabbed his ninjato forward piercing another drone, before he quickly flicked his wrist sending half a dozed kunai through the air. The kunai met their target and multiple explosions ranged through the air.

Smacking a drone out-of-the-way with her rock cannon, Black Rock Shooter swung her sword and cut down three approaching drones. She then shot down more bombs before they could reach them. The drones suddenly stopped their assault and began to gather together.

"Well, this is strange." Itachi calmly muttered as he watched the scene in front of him.

"That's new." Black Rock Shooter stated behind him as she looked over his shoulder.

"It is?" Itachi questioned.

"I've never seen this happen before." replied Black Rock Shooter. Before them stood a mass of liquid bubbling metal that was once dozens of drones.

"Well, it seems they've learned a new trick." Itachi commented as he watched the bubbling mass take shape and form. It stood fifteen feet tall and looked straight vicious with its sharp claws, teeth, and sharp tipped tail.

"What are the odds that there's another one on your side?" Itachi questioned already knowing the answer.

"Very high." Black Rock Shooter responded as she stared at another giant drone. They gave each other a brief glance before they went on the attack. Itachi quickly formed several hand signs and released a stream of fire from his mouth; meanwhile, Black Rock Shooter was letting loose with her rock cannon, and finished her barrage with a charged shot.

They waited for the dust to clear as they kept their eyes peeled, neither one of them were going to take these new drones likely. A wind blew through the forest and revealed the two new drones were, more or less, unscathed.

"We should take out the drones that haven't combined yet, we don't need to deal with another one of these things." Itachi said as the two giant drones let out a roar and began to charge.

"I agree, but that will be easier said then done." Black Rock Shooter replied just as the two drones made a swipe with their razor sharp claws.

Itachi jumped above the swipe and skillfully placed a number of exploding tags on the claw as it passed under him. Just as the tags went off; Itachi landed and rolled forward in between the drone's legs coming up behind the drone. He immediately channeled chakra into his ninjato and cut off the drones tail.

Black Rock Shooter on the other hand had to duck to keep her head on her shoulders. Shooting three shots at the drones foot causing it to fall on one knee, Black Rock Shooter followed up by shooting a charged shot at the drones chin. As the drone fell back, Black Rock Shooter jumped above it and prepared for another charge shot, but she was swatted away by the drone before she could get the shot off.

Flying through the air and towards the ground, Black Rock Shooter stuck her sword into a tree, ignoring the pieces of bark that were spraying everywhere as she slowed down her descent with her sword. Black Rock Shooter then aimed her cannon at the giant drone as it jumped at her and began firing. She watched as the drone fell towards the forest floor (which was hundreds of feet below) while smoke rose from its form.

Black Rock Shooter was preparing to follow after the drone, but something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was Itachi but something was off. She watched as he ducked under a swipe, flipped backwards to dodge another, and jumped over the drone as it charged.

_'Why isn't he attacking?'_ Black Rock Shooter thought as she continued to observe Itachi. It didn't take her long to notice that Itachi was clutching his chest as if he was in pain. But from what she could see he wasn't injured. So why was he clutching his chest? Her thought process died down and instincts took over when she saw Itachi break down and start coughing uncontrollably.

The blood coming out of his mouth wasn't lost on her.

Aiming her cannon, Black Rock Shooter shot the drones arm that was raised up to tear into Itachi (who was still coughing) causing it to lose its balance. She then pushed off the tree and stabbed the drone (albeit not as deep as she wanted to) then fired again, sending it plummeting down like the previous drone.

_'Why did it have to flare up now?'_ Itachi inwardly questioned as he covered his mouth. Things only got worse as he rolled out-of-the-way of another giant drone almost landed right on him. "It seems we were too late." Itachi said as he looked over the branch he was on, only to see the other two drones Black Rock Shooter knocked down quickly climbing up to them.

"Can you still fight?" Black Rock Shooter questioned from beside him. She had no idea what happened to Itachi, but if it inhibited his ability to fight things would get a whole lot tougher.

"I'm fine." Itachi replied as he popped a pill into his mouth. Unfortunately, those were running short, and he doubted there were any places he could get more in this new world. "Our smaller size should make it harder for them to hit us, we should use the advantage." Black Rock Shooter agreed with a nod.

They waited until the three giant drones all attacked simultaneously, before they jumped away and began making their way up the trees. As Black Rock Shooter jumped from branch to branch, she noticed Itachi was running straight up the tree. With a raised eyebrow, Black Rock Shooter decided to she would ask how he did that later.

"I'll run, you fire." Itachi simply said.

Knowing exactly what Itachi meant, Black Rock Shooter jumped off a branch, landed on Itachi, wrapped her legs around his waist, and began firing over his shoulder. If they were less stoic and focused people it would be an awkward position.

With an impassive look on her face, Black Rock Shooter rained shot after shot down on the three giant drones. She eventually had to switch from shooting at the drones, to shooting at the branches that the drones were going to jump onto when the drones began to dodge her shots with their surprising agility.

Running out of branches to jump on, the three drones began using their sharp claws to climb straight up the tree which left them as easy targets for Black Rock Shooter. The drones began taking hit after hit and started to get knocked off the tree only for them to right themselves in the air, dig into the tree and climb back up it.

This process repeated itself as Itachi continued to run up the tree and put more distance between themselves and the drones. Unfortunately, one drone decided to quickly close the distance. That one drone planted its feet into the tree, while the claws on its hands shot out a couple meters (a chain connected the claws with its hands) and dug into the side of the tree. The drone then started leaning back causing tension to rise and then let go. The drone was sent flying skywards closing the distance between itself and its targets almost instantly.

Black Rock Shooter's eyes opened wide when she saw a drone flying at them and closing in fast. She was able to get two shots on it before she realized the shots wouldn't stop it. "Jump."

Just in the nick of time, Itachi jumped away from the tree just barely avoiding getting ripped apart by the drone's claws. As they flew through the air, the drone that missed them jumped off the tree and came after them. Seeing the drone drawing closer, Black Rock Shooter used her legs and arms to push herself and Itachi in different directions before the drone's claws ripped into them. Black Rock Shooter aimed her rock cannon at the still airborne drone and began firing at it as she landed on a branch.

Itachi on the other hand saw the movement of another drone, who was making its way towards Black Rock Shooter, and jumped off the side of a tree. Just as the drone was bringing its claw down on Black Rock Shooter, Itachi blocked the claw with his ninjato, using his free hand to support the block from the backside of the ninjato. Itachi (who was still in the air) and the drone stopped moving for a split second, due to their momentum canceling each other out. That allowed Black Rock Shooter to reach out, grab Itachi by the elbow, and spin around quickly. As Itachi was spun, he stuck out his leg and caught the drone on the side of the head, sending it off of the branch and down to the ground.

Which was very, very far down.

"Now, where's the oth-" Itachi was cut off when the branch he and Black Rock Shooter were standing on began to fall. As they fell with the branch they saw the third drone clinging onto the bottom of the branch, wagging its tail back and forth. It didn't take a genius to realize the drone used its tail to cut through the tree branch.

The question was now: how would it attack?

The drone answered the unspoken question, by opening its mouth and revealing the end of a turret gun.

_'Not good.'_ they both thought as the drone began firing. As the bullets came flying at them, they both used their respective swords to rapidly block the incoming bullets. As they were doing this, Black Rock Shooter stomped on the end of the branch they were falling on causing it to flip. As the drone's line of sight of them was broken momentarily, Itachi acted quick by using the Body Flicker Jutsu to get him and Black Rock Shooter somewhere safe, while leaving two shadow clones in their place.

As the branch finished a full flip, the two clones of Itachi and Black Rock Shooter jumped at the drone, who in turn jumped at the two with its claws extended. The moment the drone pierced the clones they both exploded, sending the drone flying through the air.

* * *

_'What was that?'_ Black Rock Shooter thought as she and Itachi suddenly appeared behind a tree. She sent a questioning glance at Itachi, but he was too busy peering around the tree to see if his trap worked. Raising an eyebrow, Black Rock Shooter decided to put the question aside along with the others that accumulated since she met him, (which was becoming a startling amount since she never felt curiosity before) and followed his lead. She peered around the tree just in time to see herself and Itachi jump at the drone and explode in front of it.

Yet another question she wanted to ask Itachi.

It was irritating.

She didn't have much time to dwell on her thoughts as another drone landed on the branch they stood on and charged. Black Rock Shooter moved in to block a claw with her sword as Itachi jumped off the tree and kneed the drone in the face. As the drone fell backwards it caught Itachi by surprise when it opened its mouth allowing a thin, metal, rod with sharp, pointy, tips at the ends of the rod to extent out. Itachi just barely got the tip of his boot on the falling drone's head and pushed off. He felt the rod pierce his ANBU chest plate and then him, but luckily the wound was shallow.

The drone (**A/N:which will now be called the rod drone**) began to regain its balance and pushed forward in an attempt to spear the still airborne Itachi, but failed when Black Rock Shooter shot the rod and broke it. She then ran forward, jumped in the drone's face and fired her cannon sending it flying off the branch.

They had little time to relax as they heard a whistling sound in the air. Their heads whipped to the sound and saw dozens of bombs, that were similar to the ones that they faced earlier, flying towards them. The only difference between the bombs from earlier and the ones they were looking at was the size. The ones that were being fired at them were the size of cannonballs, which more then likely meant that they would be even more explosive.

As Itachi's eyes followed the trajectory of the bombs to find the drone that fired them, Black Rock Shooter raised her cannon and shot down the bombs. True to what they thought, the explosions that followed were far larger then the ones they dealt with before, which was made evident when they both were sent flying by the force of the explosions.

They both uncontrollably flipped through the air while trying to regain some sort of equilibrium, but it ended in Itachi's back slamming into a tree and Black Rock Shooter's back slamming into his chest. As they both landed in a heap on a tree branch (Itachi's back against the tree and Black Rock Shooter's back against his chest) Itachi began to cough violently due to the impact of Black Rock Shooter slamming into his chest. Black Rock Shooter on the other hand moaned as she tried to ignore the ringing in her ears and blurred vision. The ringing and her vision cleared up only to be replaced with Itachi's pained coughing fit.

What was wrong with him?

Eventually, Itachi's coughing calmed down allowing him to pull himself together just in time to hear a familiar whistling noise ringing through the air. He locked eyes with Black Rock Shooter before they both stood up and analyzed their situation. The drone that was firing the bombs (which will now be called the bomb drone ) was far off in the distance giving them plenty of time to think.

The bomb had all four of its claws dug into the tree branch it stood on, and had its mouth open with a cannon sticking out of it. They also noted that the other two drones were moving in on them from below. Black Rock Shooter turned to look at Itachi (who was too busy counting the number of bombs to notice) and contemplated her next move. She knew what she wanted to do to counter the bombs that were bordering in the hundreds.

It was quite simple.

Transform both of her arms into her Gatling gun form and shoot down the bombs. The only problem was that she would be vulnerable to the other two drones. So that meant that she would have to completely rely on Itachi.

"Were comrades in arms..." Itachi started pulling Black Rock Shooter out of her thoughts. "...and I protect my comrades with my life." Itachi finished with a steel determination in his voice.

Itachi took the bond of comrades very seriously. An example was what he told Kisame the fate (at least in his opinion) of anyone who betrayed their comrades when they became partners in the Akatsuki. When you fought along side someone you put your life in their hands, and Itachi respected the bond that was formed from that. It didn't matter (again, in his opinion) how short the fight was or the reason behind it, once someone placed their life in your hands it was your responsibility to protect.

No matter what.

That's one of the many reasons why it nearly broke him when he wiped out his clan.

Black Rock Shooter looked into his blood red eyes and once again got the feeling that she could trust him, and the fact that she really had no choice in the situation helped make her decision. She gave him a slight nod before transforming her arms into Gatling guns. Steadying herself, Black Rock Shooter gave Itachi a quick glance before she began her assault on the closing in bombs. She would be there for a while since the bomb drone was still letting out a continues stream of bombs.

Flashing through a set of hand signs, Itachi performed a jutsu that allowed a steady stream of wind to flow through the trees. The wind wasn't too strong, it didn't have to be. The only purpose it had was to blow the smoke of the exploding bombs away, giving Black Rock Shooter sight of the other incoming bombs. It was much better than firing blindly through the smoke.

With that done Itachi turned around and looked down. The drones had tried to snuck up behind them and were currently climbing up towards their position. Reaching into his weapons pouch Itachi jumped down while tying some wire onto two kunai, before he threw them at the two drones. The kunai wrapped around the drone's arms and Itachi yanked at the wire causing the drones to get pulled off of the trees and plummet with the momentum of the free fall, Itachi landed on a tree branch, and again yanked on the wires causing the two drones to crash onto floor.

Itachi watched from his perch as the two drones, slowly but surely, stood back up after a minute. Normally he would attack the drones with a powerful jutsu to take them out before they got back up, but that wasn't possible at the moment.

He was running low on chakra.

It wasn't that he had a low chakra reserve (in fact he had above average chakra reserves) and the chakra he used earlier was all he had. It was the unfortunate number of hindrances that stripped him from his usual abundance of chakra.

The first hindrance was the illness he contracted. It not only attacked his body but his chakra reserves causing them to drop more and more as time went on. The second was this new world he was in.

There was no nature chakra at all.

Even though his body (along with all the others from his world) produced chakra on its own, it was stimulated and made easier by nature chakra.

The last hindrance was more simple then the others.

Nutrition.

Itachi has been in this new world for nearly three days and he hadn't had a single thing to eat or drink. He did have soldier pills, a number of them actually, but he didn't want to assume he would find a food and water source anytime soon. So he opted to save them until he absolutely needed them. Even if he did find food and water Itachi wasn't sure if his body would be able to get what it needed (if it didn't kill him) to survive from it. A smart assumption seeing as the only living beings he came upon weren't food options.

He was not a cannibal.

He was wondering if the plants in the forest could provide him with what he needed but he was interrupted by Black Rock Shooter. Not that he held a grudge against her.

All in all, Itachi needed to hold back on the jutsus as much as possible. So he jumped down to the forest floor, unsheathed his ninjato, and waited for the drones to attack. Said drones didn't attack right away. No they circled Itachi on all fours like a pair of lions eying their prey.

Unfortunately for them, Itachi was no ones prey.

So when the drones charged at him swinging their claws, he was quick to dodge. He ducked low to the ground and dodged the first one and jumped in between the open space of the second claw. He landed in a front roll and jumped up, just barely dodging a sharp tipped rod that would've surely went clean through him.

In the air, Itachi put his hand on a small arm band (**A/N: the one Sasuke had when he fought Itachi**) and added the needed chakra to summon the weapon he needed at the moment. Said weapon was a windmill shuriken that appeared in a puff of smoke. Twisting in the air to gain momentum, Itachi threw the shuriken and nailed the rod drone right in its shoulder.

As he fell, Itachi had to block the other drone's swiping claw with his ninjato, but since he was still in the air he was sent flying across the clearing. Flipping in the air to right himself, Itachi pushed his feet off the tree the second they both connected (just avoiding the claw of the drone that followed after him) and jumped across the clearing. He landed on a tree branch and assessed the damage his windmill shuriken did.

Itachi watched as the rod drone used its other hand to pull out the windmill shuriken in a mechanical manner causing sparks to fly out. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he saw the drone test out the arms movement capability. Apparently the damage the shuriken did wasn't enough to hinder the arms movement.

_'It seems I'll need to take off a limb completely if I truly want to slow them down.'_ Itachi mused just as the rod drone turned to him while a number of holes opened up on its body._ 'That doesn't bode well.'_ and true to his thoughts, multiple sharp, tipped, rods came shooting out of the holes.

As Itachi ran, he had to use his ninjato to block a number of rods, he then had to duck his head, dive forward, land in a roll, and jump out of that roll. As he jumped out of that roll Itachi had to twist and turn in the air to avoid the onslaught of sharp tipped rods. While he was doing all he could to avoid the rods, a tomoe in each eye was keeping track of the other drone that was circling the clearing towards his direction.

As Itachi and the drone drew closer to each other Itachi's eyes grew wide when he saw the drone stop and open its mouth revealing its turret gun. He landed on a branch in a crouch and jumped straight up with all his strength, just in time to dodge a shower of bullets and sharp tipped rods.

_'Now what?'_ Itachi inwardly questioned as he jumped from branch to branch which were completely shredded from the hail of attacks that followed him. He took a quick glance at Black Rock Shooter to check how she was doing only to see her still shooting down the bombardment of bombs._ 'Will those two ever run out of those...'_ he didn't really know what to call those weapons they were using since he's never seen them before.

Itachi shook his head and brought his mind back to the task at hand. It didn't take him long to come up with a way to use the drone's against each other. Itachi jumped up, pushed off the bottom part of a branch, and went soaring down towards the ground while flashing through a set of hand signs. He landed, placed his hands on the ground, and sent his chakra into the earth.

He didn't blink when the torrent of bullets and sharp tipped rods came ever closer to him because he knew his jutsu would make it in time. And true his confidence, the ground under the rod drone shifted and rose slightly causing it to lose balance and accidentally shower the gun drone full of its rods. Itachi watched as the gun drone fell off of its perch and slammed into the ground. Of course he wouldn't count it out so quickly.

No.

He knew it would only be out temporarily, so he would keep a tomoe focused on it at all times.

Itachi saw that the rod drone began to pick itself back up and broke into a sprint towards it. As he closed in, the drone's foot snapped out at him, forcing him block it with his ninjato. Itachi skidded across the floor do to the force of the kick, before he ran back to the drone. The drone charged forward and snapped its mouth intending to bite Itachi in half, only for Itachi to slide under it causing the drone's mouth to bite into the ground.

Sliding under the drone, Itachi had to dig his foot into the ground to stop himself from getting impaled from a rod that shot out from its body. After stopping, Itachi grabbed the lower part of the rod and kicked at the middle, snapping it in half. He then rolled out from underneath the stuck drone (avoiding another rod that shot out from its body) and threw the rod.

The rod soared through the air and impaled the gun drone's mouth turret just as it was beginning to start-up the weapon causing a small explosion. As smoke billowed out of the drone's mouth, it let out a mechanical groan before it spat out the turret.

_'I hope it can't produce more of those...things.'_ Itachi thought as the drone collected itself.

After the gun drone collected itself it charged at Itachi who in turn ran towards it only to jump over it, using its head to get even higher in the air. He had hoped that the gun drone would have collided with the rod drone that was just behind him but that didn't happen.

The rod drone jumped above the gun drone and followed Itachi in the air. As Itachi turned in the air to look at the spear drone, said drone jabbed its claw forward forcing Itachi to lean back.

If Itachi was a less composed man (teenager) he would've been scared out of his mind when the claw traveled up his body, very lightly scraping against his ANBU chest armor, and passing his eyes by mere centimeters.

Unfortunately he wasn't out of danger yet.

The momentum of the drone's jump carried it over Itachi, who had to lean back further (he was now upside down) and dodge the rods that sprang out of the drone's body. Taking advantage at the fact that the rods were still connected to the drone's body, Itachi grabbed two rods and pulled himself up toward the drone. His feet slammed into the drone's chest causing it to crack and collapse in slightly. He then flipped them and had the drone land on its back with Itachi on its chest. Itachi then leaped off of the rod drone and into the air towards the gun drone.

The gun drone raised its arms revealing the end of a barrel muzzle in its palms before it immediately fired hitting Itachi relentlessly. Itachi then suddenly dissolved into a flock of crows which swarmed around the gun drone, before blowing up do to the exploding tags on their backs.

The real Itachi waited from his perch on a branch for the smoke to dissipate. He hoped that his last attack on the gun drone did the trick, but he seriously doubted it.

He wasn't one to take his opponents lightly.

The smoke disappeared and showed two very damaged, but still able to fight drones.

_'I don't have time for this.'_ Itachi thought as he glanced at a far away Black Rock Shooter, who was still locked in a stalemate.

His attention was brought back to the drones when the gun drone jumped up at him with its palms facing him. Itachi quickly rolled up two exploding tags and waited for the drone to get closer. Once it was close enough, Itachi threw the exploding tags into the barrel muzzle and leaned back causing him to slide to the underside of the branch just as the gun drone flew by him.

A second later the exploding tags went off.

Itachi pushed off the branch he was hanging from and flew towards the ground while the rod drone began to shower Itachi with its sharp tipped rods. After using his ninjato to block a number of the rods, Itachi drew closer to the ground and decided to make his move.

Itachi's first move was to catch one of the rods and throw it back. The rod pierced through the drone's foot and pinned it to the ground. He then landed in a roll and had to snap his hand out and catch a rod inches from his face. Spinning it between his fingers, Itachi charged at the drone and slid under a swiping claw allowing him to get behind the drone. Itachi got up quickly, spun the rod between his fingers again, and drove it into the back of the drone's knee. Itachi then broke the half of the rod that was sticking out of the drone's knee, ran to the other side of the clearing, and threw it seemingly to nowhere.

* * *

_'I'm going to need reload soon.'_

Unfortunately, that meant she would be defenseless against the bomb drone's bombardment. Doubt began to seep into her mind. The part that was calling her a fool for trusting Itachi was back and stronger then ever.

She should've never trusted him.

It was foolish.

It was out of character.

Why did she do it?

Because it was different.

It was new and since the seeds of curiosity have already began to sprout in her, she wanted to know what Itachi was.

He didn't want to fight, yet he was powerful.

He wanted to fight beside her instead of against.

She always thought that she was alive to just fight, like everyone else she met. They fought, nothing more and nothing less. That's why it was so strange to meet someone who could fight her, yet not want to fight her. The thought of not fighting never occurred to her, and the feeling of curiosity just helped even more to throw her outlook on life upside down.

The consistent nagging of curiosity was something unwelcome, and yet she couldn't help but want the new sensation sated. And Itachi seemed to be the source of her curiosity. That's why Black Rock Shooter decided to trust Itachi, albeit temporarily.

But now she was scolding herself for doing such a thing.

_'You have no one to blame but yourse-'_ Black Rock Shooter was cut off from mentally scolding herself when something flew past her. Her eyes followed the blur as it soared past the bombs (missing some by inches) and made its way towards the bomb drone.

Less then a second after a bomb left the cannon that launched it, the blur pierced the bomb causing it to detonate right in front of the drone. Black Rock Shooter watched as the bomb drone was blown apart and scattered as the one bomb set off the other ones that were in the process of being launched. She transformed her arms back to normal as she turned and looked at Itachi.

_'That's one down.'_ Black Rock Shooter mused as she assessed Itachi's situation. One drone was stuck to the ground due to the rods that pierced its legs, and the other was having trouble getting up without any hands.

Maybe she didn't make a mistake in trusting Itachi after all.

"If you can get these two together against that tree, I can end this." Itachi stated as Black Rock Shooter landed beside him. She gave him a firm nod before she transformed her arm into her black rock cannon.

Just as the spear drone freed itself from the rods that held it in place it was knocked down by a blast from Black Rock Shooter's cannon. Black Rock Shooter didn't relent as she continued to pelt the drone with shot after shot until it was pressed against the tree Itachi pointed out.

A multitude of windmill shuriken, that were attached to wires each, circled around the tree until the wire ran short and the shurikens planted themselves into the tree, trapping the drone.

"Now for the other one." Black Rock Shooter mumbled as she watched the gun drone finally make its way to its feet. She bent her knees slightly when the drone charged at her, and prepared to counter. As the drone jumped in the air, Black Rock Shooter did the same. Her feet slammed into the drone's torso, stopping its momentum, before she charged her cannon and released the shot.

A smashing sound was heard as the gun drone slammed into the spear drone, before it was also tied up to the tree by Itachi's wires. Landing beside Itachi, Black Rock Shooter raised an eyebrow when she noticed a wire clenched between his teeth. Itachi then blurred through a series of hand signs to finish the fight.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" a large stream of fire bursted from his mouth in the form of a dragon and followed the wire in Itachi's mouth towards the drones. The dragon of fire let out a roar just before it slammed into the drones, melting them against the tree.

Once again Black Rock Shooter found herself fascinated by Itachi and his abilities. He had by far the most diverse abilities she had ever seen.

_"No, I don't. I wish to avoid violence as much as possible."_

_"I have no reason to fight you."_

And yet he wasn't like her. He was against fighting, unless he was forced into it. That was completely the opposite of her, of all the girls, who sought each other to fight.

Yes, Itachi was a very curious person.

"That should do it." Itachi said as he turned to face her.

"What are you-"

(Beep)

(Beep)

(Beep)

The two looked at each other with furrowed brows, before they began to walk towards the beeping noise that interrupted Black Rock Shooter. Slowly but surely the sound became louder and louder as they drew near it. Climbing over a giant root, the two came upon the source of the noise. It was the gun drone's head which was barely intact. The head made a beeping noise as a red light flashed in its eyes every time it beeped. Itachi and Black Rock Shooter stared at the head for a few seconds until they noticed the beeping was getting faster. They gave each other a quick look before they broke out into a sprint.

(Beep)

(Beep)

(Beep)

(Beep)

(Boom!)

"Don't look now, but there's a giant wall of fire right behind us." Itachi commented as they both ran faster.

"Hn." Black Rock Shooter grunted as she glanced behind her.

The fire ball from the explosion was immense. It was like a train running over (and burning) everything in its path. Nothing stood in its way.

"It doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon." Itachi stated. "We're not going to be able outrun it forever."

"Can't you just do what you did earlier?" Black Rock Shooter calmly questioned.

"I assume you mean the Body Flicker Jutsu." Itachi responded. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough chakra."

Chakra?

What was that?

Once again Itachi proved himself a treasure trove of mysteries to Black Rock Shooter. She would saté her curiosity later, they had bigger problems at the moment.

"There should be a river close by." she stated. Itachi nodded his head and focused his Sharingan on the surroundings, save for one tomoe that he used to make sure he didn't trip over anything. That would prove deadly in the current situation.

After a few more minutes of running for their lives, Itachi spotted a large concentration of moisture in the air not too far from where they were.

"There." that was all Itachi had to say before they both broke to the right. The rushing of the water could be heard as they drew closer.

They rushed through a lining of trees and quickly noticed a that there was a twenty foot wide fissure in the earth. It took less then a second to realize that the river was down at the bottom of the fissure.

_'Can we make it?'_ Itachi wondered as the wall of fire closed in on them just as they dove down the fissure. The river (which was actually rapids and purple) was at least three hundred meters below them, meaning the wall of fire still had a chance to catch them, seeing as it spread and was filling the fissure.

"We're not going to make it..." Itachi said as he tilted his head down (or up since he was falling head first) and noted the decrease of space between them and the fire. _'unless...'_ Itachi mentally trailed off as he reached into his cloak for his soldier pills.

Just as he was going to open the bottle, Itachi felt an arm wrap around his midsection causing him to jerk his head to the side to see a stoic Black Rock Shooter change her arm into its cannon form and charge it.

"You're cutting it close." Itachi muttered as the flames drew within feet of them, its heat making itself known to their lower bodies. Just before the flames were about to engulf them, Black Rock Shooter fired her cannon.

* * *

"No! No! No! No!" an eight year old little girl with brown hair screamed.

"Calm down, brat." drawled a silver-haired teenager.

"Calm down? Calm down!? How am I suppose to calm down!? You seen what happened! He's dead! The brin-"

"You really believe that crap?" another voice spoke up. Said person looked similar to the young girl, but was older by around ten years, and had brown spiky hair.

"But big brother." the little girl whined as she looked at her brother.

"No buts." the older brother said. "You shouldn't put your faith in something a crazy old lady 'prophesied'." the little girl became downtrodden until an older girls voice spoke up.

"Don't be so mean." the older girl said as she picked the little girl up. She also had brown hair (no relation to the two) that went to her shoulders. "You never know she could be right about him."

"I can't believe you believe the old lady too Rin." the older brother face palmed. "Hana I can understand, but you?"

"There's nothing wrong with having a little faith, Kiba." Rin defended. "You seen what he did. The fact that Black Rock Shooter fought alongside him is proof of the change he could bring."

"She only fought beside him because she was forced to." Kiba retorted.

"Even so, it was enough to sprout a change in her. It may be small, but it's a start." Rin responded.

"What do you think Kakashi?" Kiba asked the silver-haired teen, hoping to get someone to back him up.

"Who me?" Kakashi pointed to himself in a lazy manner. A manner he was known for. "I think you should ask the boss lady." everyone's attention was averted to their leader, who was staring at the glowing orb, which showed them the events that just transpired.

"You know me." their leader began with a smirk. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

"Which means?" Kiba questioned.

"It means we keep doing what we've been doing, and hope that what the old lady said was true, you idiot." their leader explained. _'And also hope he survived.'_ she mentally added.

"By the way, where are the others?"

"They should be here soon, Kushina." Rin answered. Kushina may be in the same age group as most of them but she garnered everyone's respect and trust.

"Good." Kushina smiled before she turned her attention back to the orb. _'Come on.'_ Kushina bit her thumb hoping to see him emerge from the water._ 'If you really are the bringer of change then you can't die from that!'_

Seconds seemed like hours as they all watched the orb. The three girls in the room were beginning to lose hope as seconds turned into minutes.

"Come on Itachi!" Kushina yelled as she slammed her hands on the table. She may be planning on continuing without Itachi, but that didn't mean she thought that they could survive much longer without him. If he joined them it would change everything. It'd be even more so if he managed befriend Black Rock Shooter and she joined with him.

That is _if_ he joined them.

_'No. He'll join. If he really is the type of person I think he is, he'll see why we fight and join. If he's even alive.'_

* * *

_'Can this get any worse?'_ Itachi dryly thought as he bounced off an under water rock.

When Itachi and Black Rock Shooter landed in the water they immediately got caught in a very powerful underwater current, and they were having a hard time getting to the surface for air. Smacking into underwater rocks didn't help either. Which made it ironic that Black Rock Shooter slammed into a rock and bounced off of it so hard it placed her close enough to the river wall to reach it.

She stabbed her sword into a rock that was lodged into the wall, then reached out and grabbed Itachi's hand before pulling him to her. Itachi then proceeded to quickly pulled out his ninjato and stab it a few feet above them.

From there they began a series of climbing up the river wall by stabbing their swords, one at a time, into the wall while the other used their sword to keep them in place. Eventually, they got close enough to the river bank to reach up and pull themselves out of the river.

They both gasped for air as they crawled out of the river and onto dry land.

* * *

"Their alive! Their alive!" Hana screamed as she jumped up and down. Kushina on the other hand slumped back into her chair and gave a sigh of relief.

"Alright!" Kushina stood up with renewed vigor. "Rin! Tell that pervert Jiraiya that we need a way to get into the other world!" Kushina firmly stated.

"On it!" Rin said as she left the room.

"You do know that something like that won't be easy to get." Kakashi pointed out.

"Jiraiya may be a pervert, but he gets the job done. Don't underestimate him."

"It's not that I'm underestimating him, I just think that you're underestimating how hard it will be to find a way to access the other world. It took us years to get that..." Kakashi pointed to the orb on the table. "..and that just lets us _look_ into the other world."

"True." Kushina conceded as she sat back down in her seat. "But if what the old lady said is true then we can't just sit back and wait for him to come to us."

"If you say so."

* * *

"Well that was fun." Itachi commented as he laid back on the grass. His eyes followed Black Rock Shooter who was making her way up a tree to inspect the aftermath of the explosion.

It was total destruction.

For miles there wasn't nothing but scorched earth. Anything that was in the fireball's path was incinerated in an instant.

_'Such power.'_ Black Rock Shooter inwardly muttered. She came to notice that the drones have been growing stronger and stronger recently, which caused the new part of her to question it.

Why did they all of a sudden grow in strength?

Was it because of Itachi?

Her attention was drawn to said person who was squeezing the water from his cloak. The instant her eyes landed on him a number of questions popped into her mind. The most important one was..

_'Now what?'_ what would she do with him?

Leave him?

No.

He was too intriguing to just leave. Not to mention dangerous. A part of her still didn't trust him completely.

Then what?

The concept of a partnership was still foreign to her, so she couldn't think of such a simple thing. That left her with one option.

Ask him.

Leaping off the tree branch, Black Rock Shooter landed beside Itachi with a thump. She noted how he didn't flinch or bat an eye when she suddenly appeared.

Did he not think of her as a threat?

No, that wasn't it.

Did he...trust her?

He really was intriguing and confusing.

Itachi on the other hand knew exactly what he was doing. You had to give trust to get it, and he had only one reason to want her trust.

"What will you do now?" Itachi pretended to contemplate her question before he answered. He knew what he wanted.

"I would like to join you, if you don't mind." he didn't want to be alone. Itachi spent most of his life in solitude which was caused by multiple reasons.

The first was the fact that he was heir to the Uchiha Clan and everyone knew it. Because of that people tended to avoid him, in fear of angering him and having retribution brought down on them. Not like he would do such a thing.

The next came as he grew into a child. Apparently a child so wise and mature creeped people out. So much so that even his own clan began to avoid him, albeit subtly.

After that came the training. Once his father and the clan elders realized his strength and potential, they immediately began to breed him into an unstoppable fighting machine. Not that they didn't intend to in the first place they just started earlier. His life quickly became nothing but training and studying.

He hated it.

Of course that didn't mean he was completely alone. He had people, a few, that he cared for deeply. The first four were the obvious; his mother, Sasuke, Shisui and Obito. After them came his mothers best friend, Kushina. That woman was like a second mother to him. Next came Rin, the older sister figure in his life. Then there was Hana. The childhood friend that he wasn't sure what his feelings for her were.

Friends or something more?

It didn't matter once he turned ten. Ten was the age he was made aware that he would be marrying Kagura when he became of age. Neither one of them were happy with their arrangement; of course they didn't let their parents know that. It actually became something they bonded over, which would eventually lead to love.

A love that died with the rest of his clan.

The events leading up to the massacre were also reasons for his loneliness. Once he learned what his clan was planning he fell into a pit of confusion. He questioned for weeks who should he side with, which caused him to seclude himself more so from the people he cared about.

Then came the mission.

Once he received his mission to eliminate his clan he fell into a pit of depression. He spent most of the time leading up to the massacre trying to strengthen his resolve, which would be easier if he didn't see the faces of the people he would be hurting.

After the massacre came the next, and worst, period of solitude.

The Akatsuki.

An organization full of vile and despicable people, if you could call them that. Although saying it was completely full would be incorrect, at least in Itachi's opinion. There was Konan. She wasn't like the rest. She was more like him. Locking their true self away deep down inside, so it wouldn't be corrupted or touched by the filth around them. All for the sake of protecting the ones they hold dear.

For Konan it was Pein.

For Itachi it was Sasuke and the Leaf Village.

But now things were different. There was no responsibility for him here. No clan pushing him to reach "his" goals. No village needing his services to protect it, or little brother for that matter. No reason to pretend to be an emotionless killer, which he was not. No matter how good he played the role (and he played it perfectly) he always felt a stab in his chest whenever he took a life, no matter who it was. He made sure to burn every single one of his victims face into his mind.

They at least deserved the right to haunt him for the rest of his life.

And they did.

Of course that didn't mean he didn't worry.

He worried.

He worried for Sasuke.

For the village.

For Kushina and Hana.

But he eventually let it go. There was no point in dwelling on "what ifs". Doing that would drive him insane. So he decided that he would use this new world as a second chance, and there was two things he wanted to do (or not do) with his second chance.

Kill and being alone.

And that's why he wanted to join Black Rock Shooter. He wanted companionship. Itachi also felt like he could help her. With his Sharingan he could easily see when curiosity welled up in her which was immediately followed up by confusion. It didn't take him long to realize she knew nothing but fighting. She looked like blank slate to his blood red eyes.

It was sad.

So he hoped he could help develop her into a her own person. Itachi could finally do what he really wanted.

Peacefully helping people.

* * *

Black Rock Shooter was far more conflicted then Itachi was. On one hand this was exactly what she wanted. All she had to do was say yes and she would have all the time she needed to figure out this, Itachi Uchiha. But on the other hand she still didn't completely trust him. Sure she placed her trust in him earlier, but that was partially because the situation forced her to. Now the part of her that was honed by fight after fight was telling her he was tricking her. Leading her into a false sense of security so he could strike.

When it came down to it all she had to ask herself was: is it worth it? Was her newly found curiosity worth putting herself in position of being stabbed in the back.

Yes it was.

The consistent nagging feeling in the back of her mind was irritating, and she had a feeling that only Itachi could satisfy the urge.

With that in mind Black Rock Shooter looked Itachi in the eyes, pitch black eyes she noted, and gave him a nod. She would keep here eyes on him though, and Itachi knew that. He didn't blame her. It would be naive to blindly trust someone she just met, even if Itachi had not ill intentions it was always smart to be cautious.

"Thank you." Itachi gratefully stated before he unclasped his ANBU chest guard revealing a black, sleeveless, shirt that clung tightly onto his body. Black Rock Shooter watched as Itachi's hands began to glow green as he brought them up to his chest where there was a small cut.

"Ninjutsu." Itachi began to answer Black Rock Shooter's unasked question. "That's the classification of the techniques I used earlier. This here..." Itachi pointed his head towards his hands. "...is medical ninjutsu. It's for healing." normally Itachi wouldn't bother wasting chakra on healing such a small wound, but he couldn't take the chance. He wasn't entirely sure if his antibodies could fight back any of the viruses in this new world, and if they even could they would have a hard time since his body was already fighting a disease.

"I see." Black Rock Shooter muttered as she watched Itachi's cut slowly heal. He wasn't the most proficient in medical ninjutsu. He would need to change that soon.

"You seem to heal almost instantaneously. It's impressive."

Did she? She never really knew. For her that was the rate she always healed at, as it was for the rest of the girls she fought. So for her it was normal and unimpressive.

_'She heals as fast as Kushina's kid, if not more. With her fighting ability and healing factor she could be unstoppable.'_ Itachi mused as he put his chest guard and cloak back on. "Lead the way." Itachi said with a small smile on his face. Being in someone's company was really better then being alone.

Black Rock Shooter wordlessly turned around and walked away causing Itachi to follow. She had a lot of questions to ask him, but they would wait for now.

* * *

**A/N: And done. As you could see I'm writing Itachi as I think he would be like without all the burdens placed on his shoulder. And I did write that Itachi wanted to peacefully help people, but don't take that to mean he won't be in any fights. **

**Another thing, as you can see I wrote some Naruto characters into this fic. They're alternate reality versions, so they might be ooc. Also I'm sure you've noticed that I made Hana the younger sister and Kiba the older brother. Why? Not sure just did. That being said some naruto characters could be subjected to changes more specifically age. Example Jiraiya. He'll probably be around his mid 20's. That'll be around the oldest I'll make the naruto chacters.**

**One last thing, if people request it enough I'll write in the next chapters authors note where I'm planning on going with this fic. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's been a while but I'm back!**

**Ok, I'm gonna explain a few things about where I'm going with this story and I'll answer a few questions too. So yes, this authors note will have spoilers so skip if you don't want to know.**

**I know I said in an earlier authors note that Itachi would be sent to the real world and that's true but that's WAY later in the story. So Kushina and her group are from a different reality, I'll explain in a minute. And they also don't know Black Rock Shooter personally, they know of her. If that makes sense.**

**And I know some of you are wondering how Itachi got into Black Rock Shooters' world and honestly I haven't really put any thought into it at first. I'll probably explain it later when I think of something.  
**

**Now on to what I plan to go with this story. I'm gonna explain backwards bare with me.**

**First, I actually plan to write a sequel when this story is done. It's gonna take place in the Naruto-verse. That's right, I'm going to send Itachi and his group (harem? Still up for debate) back to Itachi's world. Eventually Itachi's going to form a group with the girls which is basically an anti-akatsuki group. They'll protect the Leaf Village and Tailed Beasts from the shadows. Eventually everyone will find out that Itachi's the leader of the group which will bring conflict between his group, Akatsuki, and the Leaf Village.**

**A fight I really want to write is Black Gold Saw vs Kisame.**

**Can anyone say giant sword fight?**

** Moving on, Itachi will, after the truth comes out, be accepted back to the village which is why I'm still wondering if I should do the harem.**

**He'll need to restore the clan and what better way then having a harem.**

**Again still up for debate, and sometime in the future I'll make a poll for harem or no harem.**

**But before Itachi and his group are sent back to the Naruto-verse, they'll be sent to the real world. Ours, you know with cars and stuff. I want to throw in a lot of family like moments in that part of the story. I want to have everyone (Itachi, Black Rock Shooter, Dead Master, Black Gold Saw, and Strength) living in the same house, it just seems it'll be a lot of fun to write. Of course they'll still be action and I'll do my best to keep them in character.**

**Now one of the biggest things I want to do when they're in the real world is have Itachi accidentally get Black Rock Shooter pregnant. Black Rock Shooter and mood swings, that'll be fun to write. **

**With the kids I'm thinking twin girls. One will basically be Rock-chan from the manga Black Rock-Chan, deadpanned face and all, and the other will be a regular, happy and cheerful girl. **

**Now the part before that will be the one that happens next. I'm talking about the world Kushina and her group are in. It'll be a world back in the day with royals, nobles, and swords and stuff. They live in an empire that's corrupt. That's why they formed their group, to rebel, but they need Itachi's help.**

**Why?**

**To answer that question I need to clear something up about the drones. There will be two type's of drones. One will be the ones Itachi and Black Rock Shooter fought, they'll be modeled after animals because it's just easier, and the other type's will be Black Rock Shooter and the other girls. They'll be more advanced like a second generation drones. **

**Maybe that's what I'll call them. I was having trouble coming up with a classification for them. If anyone could come up with a better name for them please tell me. The 2nd gen drones will have two reason for being made, one will be in the military; which is why Kushina and her group need Itachi because they can fight the empire's regular soldiers but the 2nd gen drones would destroy them. The other functions for the 2nd gen drones will be less meaningful.**

**To put it bluntly, their other reason will be for entertainment. The royals and nobles send them into the other world to bet on them and watch them fight. A petty reason I know, but their corrupt and selfish. Of course once Itachi and his group find that out they won't be happy. **

**I still haven't come up with how they make the drones but I will eventually.**

* * *

"So when there's no fighting this is all there is?" a hooded Itachi asked as he and Black Rock Shooter, who was also hooded, walked through a desert. It had been two weeks since Itachi joined Black Rock Shooter and all they did was roam. He would pick roaming over fighting but still, two weeks of roaming with no goal in mind was annoying.

"Yes." Black Rock Shooter answered without taking her eyes off the book (one of many Itachi had stored in a scroll) she was reading. Itachi had to give a slight chuckle at the sight, seeing as she didn't even know how to read not too long ago.

Hell, she never even seen a single letter before in her life.

So Itachi decided to teach her.

Of course, he wasn't under the delusion that she was unintelligent. He could tell she had a high intellect just like him, she just needed to be given the opportunity to learn. And true to his confidence Black Rock Shooter picked up reading in a day in a half. Even though her face was still impassive, Itachi could tell she enjoyed reading.

Finishing the book, Black Rock Shooter closed it, and handed it back to Itachi. Itachi in turn raised an eyebrow and waited for her to speak.

". . . .Thank you." Black Rock Shooter reluctantly said. Itachi was also teaching her manners, something she wasn't to keen on. She didn't see the point in being polite. What would that get her? But then Itachi threatened to not let her read anymore of his books, so she decided it was worth it.

"You're welcome." Itachi replied as he handed her another book.

Black Rock Shooter really liked reading, even though Itachi had to explain and describe a number of things she's never heard of, let alone seen. It was like looking into another world she never knew existed.

Just before she dove into another book, Itachi broke into a coughing fit. That was a question she really wanted to ask him. So she waited until he was done coughing and spoke in her standard stoic tone.

"What's wrong with you?" she bluntly asked.

"Nothing." Itachi responded before he continued walking. Black Rock Shooter's eyes narrowed as she watched him walk ahead. He was lying and she knew it.

But why?

She had asked a few question in the past two weeks and he always answered her questions fully.

Well, all except one question.

Which was: What was he?

It took Itachi a few seconds to get what she was asking, but it eventually dawned on him.

She was confused about his gender.

Which meant he was the only male in this new world, unless Black Rock Shooter just so happened to not run into one yet. But he doubted that was true. So that brought about a number of questions in his mind that he decided to examine later and answer Black Rock Shooter's question.

It was a lot easier than he thought it would be to explain that he was a male and she was a female. That is until Black Rock Shooter wanted him to go into greater detail on why did males and females have different anatomy's and what the use of the differences were.

That was when Itachi noticed that the conversation was heading a little too close to "The Talk" so he decided to cut it short, much to Black Rock Shooters' dismay.

Besides that, Itachi answered her other questions until she was satisfied. So why was he avoiding a question now?

Watching Itachi continuing forward, Black Rock Shooter let out an uncharacteristic sigh before she followed behind him.

Itachi was puzzle to her.

Puzzle, she learned what that was from a book.

* * *

"You want me to find what?!" Jiraiya yelled as he looked incredulous at Kushina.

"You heard me." Kushina replied with a tic mark on her head. "I want you to find a way into the other world, or specifically to get someone out."

". . . You're talking about The Bringer of Change aren't you?" Jiraiya asked in one of his more serious tones.

"Yup." Kushina smiled.

"So he's real?" he received a nod. "Are you a hundred percent sure?" another nod. "Well, damn. . . .Do you really think he could make difference?"

"He was able to fight toe to toe with Black Rock Shooter, so yeah."

"Black Rock Shooter? That's the one with uneven pigtails right?"

"The one and only." Kushina answered causing Jiraiya to whistle.

"She's a tough one. To be able to go toe to toe with her is something. If he does join the resistance we may have a chance."

"It could possibly get better." Kushina stated.

"How so?" Jiraiya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think maybe, just maybe, we might be able to get Black Rock Shooter to join us with him. I've been watching the two for the past two weeks, and she seems to be acting more human."

"Impossible." Jiraiya denied. "Drone's, no matter what level or how advanced they are, don't feel anything. They're not human."

"But maybe they can change." Kushina argued back. "Itachi Uchiha, I believe, is The Bringer of Change. Maybe this is because of him." Jiraiya stared at a hopeful Kushina before he let out a sigh.

"Well, I doubt it, but if you're right then I'm not complaining." Jiraiya shrugged. "Anyone who could fight those monsters and is willing to join us is ok in my book."

"Let's keep our fingers crossed." Kushina said as she crossed her fingers. "Now get to work."

"You know, you work me too hard." Jiraiya whined before a lecherous grin crossed his face. "As an award you should let me-"

"No way in hell." Kushina cut him off.

"But I didn't even get to finish." Jiraiya pouted.

"Don't need to." Kushina shrugged. "Now get to work."

* * *

". . . .What is it like?" Black Rock Shooter questioned from beside Itachi. "Where you're from that is."

"It's. . . . an amazing place." Itachi responded as a warm smile crawled onto his face. "The people are always struggling and striving to move forward into the future. To better themselves. . . . at least most of them do."

"Is there fighting?"

"(sigh) Unfortunately wherever there are people there will always be fighting." Itachi answered as he gazed at the sky. "To answer your question, yes there is fighting. It's usually done by shinobis like myself."

"Are they strong?" Itachi really wasn't really surprised by that question.

"Most of them a weaker than me, but there are a few who are stronger than me. Although, in my defense, they are older, so they have an advantage of experience and their bodies fully maturing." Itachi replied with a smile on his face.

Unfortunately their little Q and A was cut short when a sink hole appeared behind them. They immediately broke into a run as the sink hole continued to grow and swallow the sand.

"This world is survival of the fittest personified." Itachi mumbled as he looked over his shoulder only to see the sink hole grow larger. _'No wonder why she is the way she is.'_

The two ran as fast as they could but eventually the sink hole caught up to them and swallowed them up. As they fell, the light above them became smaller and smaller before there was nothing but darkness.

* * *

"Wake up." groaning slightly, Itachi opened his eyes only to see Black Rock Shooter kneeling beside him.

"What happened? Where are we?" Itachi questioned as he sat up and looked around.

"Don't know." she responded in her standard stoic tone.

They were in a strange place where the floor below them had checkered designs and was cracked at multiple places causing pieces of the floor to stick out above the rest of the floor. The strangest part was the ceiling above them. **(A/N: I'm trying to describe the scene before Black Rock Shooter fought Chariot in the anime.)**

"That's reassuring." Itachi said as he stood up.

They were about to discuss where exactly they should go from there before they both caught something at the corner of their eye. Turning their heads, they both saw a stream of green light floating away from them and then turn a corner. Giving each other a brief look, they both followed the light and began to turn the same corner before they a gust of wind and light hit them causing them to cover their faces and look away.

When the wind and light died down they looked upon what can only be called a child's nightmare.

"This should be impossible. We fell in a sinkhole, we should be underground." Itachi said as he surveyed their surroundings. _'On top of that, this place is beyond creepy. The only way to make this scenario any worse would be if Orochimaru popped out from around the corner.'_ even though Itachi thought that it didn't mean he was scared of said creepy man. He knew he could defeat Orochimaru, it wouldn't even be hard if he was completely healthy, but that didn't change the fact that Orochimaru made his skin crawl.

The sound of metallic clattering caused their heads to snap to the side just in time to see something blur past a corner. They repeated the act a few seconds later when the same clattering noise came from their right.

As Black Rock Shooter summoned her cannon, Itachi pulled out a kunai with an exploding tag attached to it. Both readied their weapons as they kept their ears peeled. The instant they heard more clattering noise behind a row of giant, toy blocks, Itachi threw his kunai while Black Rock Shooter fired a charged shot effectively destroying the row of blocks. Once the smoke cleared, Itachi vowed that once they left that area he would never go back.

Just too creepy

Before them stood a spider-like machine. Its legs were long and metallic with a sharp point at the tips of them. But that wasn't what was so creepy about them. It was the bald, baby, doll head that was on top of its body. The eye hanging out of its socket didn't help much. **(A/N: If you watched the first Toy Story then you know what I'm talking about.)**

Still wasn't scared though, just. . . creeped out.

The creepy spider drone tilted its baby head to the side before its mouth opened and shot out a stream of green liquid. They both jumped put of the way and landed on a giant toy block not too far away.

"Acid." they both simultaneously muttered as thy watched the green liquid eat through a toy. Their eyes widened in surprise when they heard the same clattering noise behind them causing them to jump away again. The two just barely dodged the stream of acid from another spider drone that snuck up behind them in an attempt to take them out quickly. As they landed on the floor, the two could see a dozen other spider drones start crawling from behind different objects.

Itachi was about to make a comment only to be cut off by a giant, spider-like, vehicle that busted through a wall and slammed into Black Rock Shooter. The machine continued on its path, dragging Black Rock Shooter and destroying whatever was in its way.

Itachi began to run after her, but had to jump to the side when the dozen of the spider drones shot acid at him. Once Itachi landed he threw a kunai at one of the drones doll head only for a leg to quickly and precisely smack the kunai out of the way.

_'Let's see how capable those legs are for protecting.'_ Itachi mused as he watched his clone, who was twenty feet above a drone, throw a windmill shuriken straight down at it, in an attempt to cut it in half.

Unfortunately, at the last second two legs, both on opposite sides of the drone, snapped up and caught the shuriken with the tip of its legs.

_'So they can cover all angles of attack. But those legs should break with enough brute force. Too bad I don't have Kisame's strength.'_ he had to jump out of the way again when all the spider drones shot acid at him.

Once he landed, Itachi activated his Sharingan just as a drone jumped straight at him. As it flew in the air, it straightened out its legs and began to spin causing it to become a deadly spinning wheel.

Itachi quickly ducked down as the drone flew past his head, just missing it by inches. He then had to do a small jump and flipped over another drone that tried cutting him in half. As he completed the flip, Itachi brought a perfectly timed foot down and performed a heel drop kick on another spinning drone's head. Itachi then bursted into crows when he was showered by streams of acid by the other drones.

"This will pose a problem." Itachi stated after the crows reformed, allowing him to see even more drones appear.

* * *

Black Rock Shooter ran as fast as she could in an attempt to put some distance between her and the giant spider vehicle, otherwise known as Mary, that she knew Chariot was driving. Black Rock Shooter had yet to mount an offensive attack of any kind since she was attacked by the machine; instead, she's been getting smacked around by the thing.

In the confines of Mary, Chariot pressed a button causing the mouth to open and shoot a number of macaroons at Black Rock Shooter. As the macaroons drew closer, Black Rock Shooter summoned her rock cannon, charged it, and slid causing the macaroons to fly over her head. She then fired her cannon forward and was sent sliding backwards towards Chariot and her machine.

As she slid under the machine, Black Rock Shooter fired at the underbelly and continued to fire as she continued to slid behind it. Sparks flew along with pieces of metal as Black Rock Shooter rained shots upon the machine.

"Damn." Black Rock Shooter cursed as Mary turned the corner and away from her attack. She transformed her arm back to normal and chased after Mary. There was no way she would give up the momentum of the fight.

* * *

"Damn, this is getting good." Kushina commented as she watched the battles going on.

"Shouldn't we be worried?" Kakashi questioned as they all watched Itachi flip and twist in the air barely dodging three streams of acid. "THAT was impressive." Kakashi whistled while others nodded their head in agreement.

"THAT is the reason I'm not worried." Kushina answered. "There's no way a few dozen drones could take him out." the confidence in her words could easily be felt by everyone in the room.

"Yo bitches!" Hinata, the most roughest and vulgar member of their group, shouted as she entered the room. "We got a message from boss ladies girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend! She's my childhood friend!" Kushina shouted. She was really getting sick and tired of Hinata saying that. She had a mind to teach her a lesson but the message was more important.

"Whatever." Hinata rolled her eyes.

"What's the message?" Kushina answered through gritted teeth.

"She's coming for your 'meeting'." Hinata answered with a wink.

_'Damn. I forgot we were meeting today.'_ Kushina mentally scolded herself. "Alright, everyone stay here and keep an eye on what's happening." Kushina ordered as she motioned her hand towards the orb that showed Itachi's fight with the drones.

"Alright!" Hinata shouted. "I love watching a good fight!"

"Too bad." Kushina smirked. "Because you're coming with me."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because I'm the leader and I said so." Kushina smirked causing Hinata to let out a string of curses. Kushina then proceeded out the door, her mind going to her childhood friend Mei Terumi.

They both grew up in Yakama Village, a village on the outskirts of the Senju Empire. They both had many things in common, one of those things was their hatred for the Senju Empire. An empire that started out as a peaceful and loving one, but over the generations corruption and wickedness slithered its way into the once loving empire. From the Emperor to the Viceroy's, any position of power was filled with evil men and woman, and the people suffered for it.

It didn't take long for Kushina and Mei's hatred to turn into determination. So, one day they made a decision to fight back, and the only way they knew how to fight back was to start a their own rebel group. Rebel groups were abundant in the Senju Empire, people could only take so much before they began to fight back, but due to their personalities they couldn't do it together. Kushina and Mei were leaders not followers, so they created their own groups. But that didn't mean that they didn't keep in touch or work together when the opportunity presented itself.

They would meet with each other once a month to check on the progress they were making. Which was why Kushina, with Hinata, were sitting at a small cafe waiting for Mei to arrive.

"Will you shut up." Kushina said, no longer being able to ignore Hinata's complaining; which caused said girl to scowl. "It's just a fight."

"You know how much I love fights!" Hinata retorted.

"Well, there's still a chance you'll get to see it." Kushina sighed.

"Really?! Wait. Does that mean you're going to show her?" Hinata questioned.

"She didn't really believe me when I told her about the old ladies dreams but I can't really blame her for that." Kushina explained. "Anyways, if we're going to get Itachi, and hopefully Black Rock Shooter, out of the other world and on our side, we're going to need as much help as possible."

"I guess." Hinata shrugged. "But seriously she needs to hurry the hell up."

"As patience as ever Hinata." the two turned their heads to see Mei, who was accompanied by Ao as always, lift the hanging piece of cloth that acted as the cafe's door.

"It's good to see you're still alive and kicking." Kushina greeted as the two sat on the other side of the table.

"Of course I am." Mei scoffed. "Can't die yet can I? After all that would be breaking a promise."

"Damn right!" Kushina agreed.

"Probably about you two getting married." Hinata mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Kushina glared causing Hinata to flinch, albeit slightly.

"Can we go now?" Hinata asked hoping to divert Kushina's attention away from her earlier words.

". . . .You're not going to shut up if we don't go, are you?" Kushina deadpanned which earned vigorous nods from Hinata. "Fine." Kushina sighed as she gave in. "I guess you're right. This does take precedence over us catching up." Kushina stated as she stood up.

"What's going on?" Mei questioned as she stood up and followed Kushina out of the café.

"Remember when I told you about _that_?" Kushina answered with her own question as the group began walk down the dirt street.

"Hmmm?" Mei tilted her head in contemplation until Ao, who understood what Kushina was talking about, whispered into her ear. "Oh! That!" Mei exclaimed as she hit her fist into her open palm. "What about it? Don't tell me you actually believe tha-"

"We found him." Kushina cut her friend off with a smirk on her face.

"You're kidding."

"Nope." Kushina's smirk widened.

"Show me." Mei demanded and Kushina was more than happy to comply.

"I intend to."

* * *

The sound of metal clashing rang through the air as Itachi brought up his ninjato to block the descending drone's leg mere inches from his face. He then grabbed the leg with his other hand and used his now free arm to smash an elbow on the leg effectively breaking it. Itachi quickly followed up by blurring through a series of hand signs and unleashing a stream of wind from his mouth blowing the drone away.

Using the very little spare time he had until the next attack, Itachi threw another kunai at a far away drone, which was dodged and then embedded in a wall. He then turned around to see a drone jumping towards him with its front two legs raised up. As it came close, it swung its legs down but Itachi caught them and rolled backwards before he used his legs to throw the drone away from him.

He then followed up by throwing more kunai which also missed and were lodged into different objects.

"He's missing. . . a lot." Mei pointed out as she, along with Ao and the rest of Kushina's, group watched the fight. "I think you're grasping at straws Kushina." Mei sighed.

"Mei. Just shut up and watch." Kushina replied with a knowing smirk on her face. She could see what Itachi was planning._ 'Come into my parlor-'_

* * *

_'-said the spider to the fly.'_ Itachi hummed as he stabbed a kunai into the ground. He couldn't help but smirk at the irony of the fate that was going to befall the spider-like drones that were all raining down towards him in an effort to trap him with their overwhelming numbers.

Unfortunately for them, they fell into Itachi's web. That was clear when they all completely stopped in midair as if caught by an invisible force. One came so close that the tip of its leg was able to touch the bridge of Itachi's nose causing a small drop of blood to leak out the small cut. Itachi didn't blink or bat an eye at the drone, he knew he was in complete control of the situation.

Itachi stepped back and eyed all of the stuck drones as they attempted to free themselves from his trap. Shaking his head, Itachi flashed through a series of hand signs to finish the drones off.

The irony that the hand signs he was going through was the only original technique a certain shinobi created wasn't lost on him.

"Chidori!"

* * *

Everyone watched in awe as lightning sparked in Itachi's hand and chirped through the air. He then grabbed the base of the kunai he stabbed into the ground, sending electricity through the kunai and up the metal wire that was tied around the hilt of the kunai. They then watched as electricity began flowing through the air all around the drones effectively frying them.

It was then when they realized that Itachi was missing with his earlier kunai on purpose. Each kunai had metal wires tied to them and were used to create a web all around him.

"Ok. So he's better than I thought." Mei admitted. "But if he's going to be able to go against those damn monsters then he's going to need to be much stronger than that."

"You're right." Kushina agreed. "So just sit back and watch." Kushina stated as she continued to watch Itachi. Whose head snapped to the right just in time to see Black Rock Shooter, off in the distance, getting swung in the air by a pair of chains before getting slammed into a wall.

"That had to hurt." Hinata commented as they watched Itachi break into an amazingly fast sprint towards his comrade.

* * *

Damn.

She had Chariot.

Had her.

But Dead Master had to make an appearance. **(A/N: Dead Master has the appearance of the OVA version. So no glasses and black wings and horns.) **

Now she was chained to a wall and about to get skewered by Chariot's spider-like machine which was now converting into a drill. She could feel a pair of emotions bubble up in her.

Anger and frustration.

Frustration at the fact that she missed her chance at finishing Chariot off, and angry at Dead Master (who was one of the toughest opponents, it was tie between her and Black Gold Saw, she had ever faced) for getting in her way.

Of course, she didn't think that the two were working together. Dead Master just saw an opportunity to take her out and took it. It just so happened that it helped Chariot.

Black Rock Shooter couldn't help but think of a pair of words that she read in one of Itachi's books to perfectly describe Dead Master.

Conniving bitch.

She knew that after Dead Master tied her up to the wall and backed off to let Chariot go for the killing blow so that she could kill off Chariot right after the blow was dealt.

Conniving bitch.

But all of that was irrelevant as Mary, in its drill form, began barreling towards her. Despite her predicament, Black Rock Shooter couldn't help the smirk (that's what is was called right?) that crossed her face.

With all the time she's spent with Itachi, Black Rock Shooter was learning to sense his chakra, or at least that's what he called it. And she could sense him closing in.

Trust.

Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

The word and meaning was foreign to her, yet Itachi was earning hers rather quickly, and he continued to earn it by sending a massive fireball at Mary that blindsided it and knocked it away from Black Rock Shooter.

The sound of metal cutting through metal echoed through the air as the chains holding Black Rock Shooter in place broke into pieces; setting her free.

"Now who's cutting it close?" she commented as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"That's gratitude for you." Itachi replied as he rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face before it took his usual stoic look. "Which one do you want?"

"I can handle bot-"

"I'm sure you could." Itachi cut her off mid-sentence. "But I reiterate, which one do you want?" looking at his face, Black Rock Shooter could tell he wasn't going to let her fight them both on her own.

She didn't hate the idea.

* * *

"They're actually working together?" an astonished Mei blurted out. Those girls didn't work with anyone.

Ever.

They killed.

It was as simple as that.

_'Does this mean. . . . . Could what that old lady said be true?'_ Mei wondered before shaking her head. _'Regardless, it means nothing if he can't fight one of those and win.'_

* * *

"I'll take her." Black Rock Shooter pointed towards Chariot. Even though Dead Master was the biggest annoyance, she was fighting Chariot first, and once she started a fight with someone she didn't stop as long as you were within her sights.

Itachi was the only exception.

"Very well." Itachi replied as he rolled his neck to get the kinks out of it. "Then that leaves me with her." as Itachi finished he started walking off to the side to give each other some space. As he was walking away he couldn't help but look back over his shoulder and speak a few more words.

"Feel free to call me if you need any help. Saving you is becoming a habit I'm starting to enjoy." with a smirk Itachi turned his attention to Dead Master said a few words and jumped over the edge of the platform they were standing on.

Black Rock Shooter's face remained completely stoic, as long as one ignored the slight eye twitch in her right eye. She also read that in a book.

It was called teasing.

She didn't like it.

But. . . she didn't hate it.

She didn't get much time to dwell on her dislike (yet not hatred) of Itachi's teasing as Chariot came racing towards her.

With her sword in one hand and shield in the other, Chariot went straight at Black Rock Shooter, hoping to take her out while she was distracted. Fortunately for Black Rock Shooter, she wasn't one to be caught by surprise.

Blade met blade as Black Rock Shooter blocked Chariot's attack resulting in their swords locking together. They pushed against each other trying to gain the upper hand, said upper hand was won by Chariot, who accelerated her wheels giving her enough power to push Black Rock Shooter back.

Black Rock Shooter's feet slid across the floor until her back slammed into a wall causing her to grunt. Her muscles strained as she pushed against Chariot's blade but to no avail.

Just as Black Rock Shooter's arms were about to give out she jumped to the side causing Chariot's sword to impale itself into the wall. Landing in a roll, Black Rock Shooter spun around and dashed towards Chariot, hoping to take advantage of her situation.

Once she was within range, Black Rock Shooter stabbed her sword forward only for it to be blocked by Chariot's shield. The shield then shot out spikes from the center that hit Black Rock Shooter and sent her flying and impaled her into the side of a giant toy doll.

Black Rock Shooter's face remained impassive as she looked at the spikes that were holding her in place. Right shoulder, stomach, left hand, and right thigh; those were the places that were impaled by the spikes. Using her one free hand, Black Rock Shooter began pulling the spikes out one by one until she was free.

She watched as her wounds began to heal before her head snapped up when something caught her attention. Apparently Chariot freed her sword and was not speeding towards her once again. Summoning her Rock Cannon, Black Rock Shooter aimed at Chariot and began firing.

Chariot zigged and zagged left and right doing her best to dodge her opponent's attack as she closed the distance between them. Deciding on a different approach, Black Rock Shooter stopped firing, crouched slightly, began charging her cannon, and waited.

Just as Chariot came upon her, Black Rock Shooter raised her cannon causing Chariot to lift up her shield, but unfortunately for her Black Rock Shooter was just feinting. Instead of firing her cannon, Black Rock Shooter jumped above Chariot and fired at her exposed back.

Black Rock Shooter watched as Chariot was blasted through the toy block and off the platform they were on. She didn't waste time jumping off the platform and chasing after her opponent. As she fell to the next platform, Black Rock Shooter's curiosity surfaced, forcing her to look for Itachi as she continued to fall.

A ball of fire caught her attention and she proceeded to follow the path it flew from. From what she could see Itachi was holding his own, and it seemed Dead Master was having a hard time dealing with his techniques.

She could relate.

His techniques were something she couldn't have ever imagined, so dealing with them was a tough task.

Of course, that didn't mean she gave a damn about what happened to her. She did wonder if Itachi would go for the kill or try to just subdue Dead Master.

She doubted he'd kill her. Itachi made it perfectly clear he hated killing. Too bad for Chariot, she didn't such aversions.

* * *

"Feel free to call me if you need any help. Saving you is becoming a habit I'm starting to enjoy." with that said Itachi walked to the edge of the platform they were on and turned to Dead Master. "Come. If we must fight I'd like it so their fight won't interfere with ours." Itachi said as he leaned back and fell over the edge.

He fell making sure his back was facing the ground and his front was towards the sky making sure he didn't give any type of opening. His caution proved to be well placed, when he saw Dead Master come diving off the platform with her Dead Scythe ready to strike.

_'Always with the violence.'_ Itachi sighed as he pulled out his ninjato to parry Dead Master's first strike. Their weapons clashed as Dead Master continued swinging her scythe with deadly accuracy but none hit as Itachi blocked all strikes.

Dead Master twisted in the air and used the momentum to swing her scythe hoping to separate Itachi's head from his body. She missed due to Itachi flipping backwards and kicking her in the jaw. Using the momentum from the kick Dead Master flipped backwards twisting the scythe in her hands so the tip pointed upwards and swung up trying to pierce Itachi in the back.

It hit, but then Itachi bursted into a flock of crows.

_'What?'_ Dead Master thought as she cut a fire ball in half before landing from her free fall. She stood straight up and surveyed her surroundings. The area was littered with random, giant-sized, toys.

They were still in Chariot's territory.

Itachi watched Dead Master from behind a block, all the while thinking about how he should deal with her.

He didn't want to fight her, let alone kill her, but he doubted he could do the same thing he did to Black Rock Shooter. That was a shot in the dark and he didn't want to take such a chance again.

Talking never hurt.

"Why did you attack Black Rock Shooter?" especially when you didn't do it face to face. It's not that he was scared, Itachi just thought that the moment Dead Master saw him she would attack; which made talking awfully hard. "Why are you fighting?"

What was this person talking about?

Reason for fighting?

How preposterous.

She didn't answer; instead, she opted to call upon her chains and had them lash out at every object that Itachi could be hiding behind.

"For what reason do you live?" Itachi continued to question Dead Master as he flickered from hiding place to hiding place. "What do you see yourself as?" he knew his approach.

He wanted to plant seeds.

Seeds of doubt.

Itachi wanted her to doubt what she was doing and why she was doing it. He wanted her to ask the questions she never asked herself, and the best way to do that was to ask the questions himself.

Whether it was during the fight, a week after, or a month after; it didn't matter when as long as she reflected on her reason of living. In Itachi's opinion, no one should live their life without a reason, and no one's reason for living should ever be to mindlessly fight without a goal in mind.

Of course, in his ideal world there would be no fighting whatsoever.

But that was impossible.

He would still try though.

* * *

"Is he talking to her?" Mei questioned as they watched Itachi duck under a chain that almost wrapped around his neck.

"Seems so." Kushina answered with an amused tone.

"Is he out of his fucking mind?!" Mei bellowed in utter disbelieved.

"Of course not. Why would you ask such a thing?" Kushina put her hand on her cheek and spoke in a sweet tone.

"Don't play with me! Why is he doing that?! Who talks to someone who's trying to kill them?!"

"Apparently he does." Kakashi interjected.

"It's because he's an idiot." Kiba huffed in annoyance.

"He's not an idiot!" Hana defended with puffed cheeks. "He's just being nice!"

"Whatever." her brother rolled his eyes.

"Will you all shut up! I'm trying to watch this fight!" Hinata yelled causing them all to turn back to the fight just in time to see Itachi jump to the side, just barely dodging the scythe that cut straight through the toy block he was hiding behind. They continued to watch as Itachi pulled out his ninjato, once again, and engaged Dead Master.

It was incredible.

He was actually matching her in a fight.

No one ever matched one of them in a fight besides another one of them.

"Kushina." Mei called as she reached out for her friend's shoulder, all the while not taking her eyes off of the fight.

"Yeah?" she too didn't take her eyes away from the fight.

"I think you can have something here."

"Told you."

"We need to get him out of there."

"Already have Jiraiya on it."

"If you need help of any kind just tell me." Mei offered. "This is an opportunity that we can't let get away from us."

"Don't I know it." Kushina replied.

"Wow." Mei uttered when Itachi's hood came off. "He's hot." she couldn't help the blush that grew on her cheeks; while the rest of the girls, even Hana, nodded their heads in agreement.

* * *

_'She's as good if not better with a scythe then, Hidan.'_ Itachi mused as he ducked under a horizontal swing from Dead Master and tried to leg sweep her. She jumped over the leg sweep and flipped in the air gaining momentum before swinging her scythe down on Itachi, who rolled out of the way.

Coming out of his roll, Itachi spun around and threw a number of shuriken at Dead Master only to have them swatted away with a spin of her scythe. Unfortunately for her, Itachi had closed the distance between them and stabbed his ninjato forward. Dead Master managed to side step most of the attack and only received a mild cut to her shoulder, but that was enough for Itachi.

He needed to see something before he got more serious and used some of his stronger techniques. He made the mistake earlier of launching a fireball at her, due to being caught up in the moment. Itachi saw what he was looking for when the cut Dead Master received began to heal right in front of his eyes.

_'So she has the same accelerated healing ability as Black Rock Shooter.'_ Itachi mused as he blocked a downward swing from Dead Master's scythe. A pair of chains came flying in from behind him and snaked their way around his body. He couldn't help but smirk when Dead Master rushed forward and swung her scythe down on him, only for 'him' to explode right in front of her.

Dead Master was in the dark on his abilities and he was going to take advantage.

* * *

Sparks flew as Black Rock Shooter's blade scraped and scratched against Chariot's as their fight continued. The scenery around them easily showed how intense their battle was. Neither one of them would stop at nothing short of the death of the other.

Oddly colored blood flew through the air as Black Rock Shooter stabbed Chariot through the stomach; unfortunately, she was stabbed through her stomach was well. A squishing like sound traveled through the air as the two pulled their blades from out of the other, before they separated from each other.

Black Rock Shooter's irritation level was reaching an all time high, never mind the fact that emotions were still a new concept to her and her face remained complete impassive. She didn't know it, but she had a competitive nature to her and it didn't want to lose to Itachi. She wanted to finish Chariot off first.

Which meant she had to deal with Chariot as quickly as possible.

Transforming her arm into her Black Rock Cannon, Black Rock Shooter, set out to do that.

* * *

**A:N/ And done. I would've continued but I wanted to get your opinions about something. I find myself at times skipping parts of a story when fights scenes go on too long, and I feel this one was going on too long. I also felt this story was becoming nothing but fighting. That's why I put more of Kushina and her group in this chapter then I originally intended to help add something more then just fighting. I also plan to focus on their side of the story for that exact same reason in future chapters.**

**That's also why I put Dead Master in this chapter (didn't intend to originally again) I wanted to speed up a little bit to where Itachi's group forms and they go into Kushina's world. But I can't speed it up too much because I don't want to ruin the quality of the story by having all the girls meet Itachi and instantly join him. It would be too rushed. So I threw in Dead Master, she met Itachi, but won't join at first. She get away but the seeds will already be implanted in her.**

**So what I wanted to ask is: In the next chapter should I continue from where I left off, or have a time skip towards the ending of the fights?**

** And just to be clear Chariot will die. **

**I hope you liked the interaction between Itachi and Black Rock Shooter. I did my best to keep them in character without making it boring. **

**Well I think that's it.**

**Peace.**


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